Who Will Die?
by f-romanoff-13
Summary: The team is captured, and Tony is forced to make an impossible decision. Reviews are always appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Tony woke; uncomfortably tied to a metal chair, he felt disorientated and his head pounded. His suit was gone, legs and hands were bound and his head was held tightly in place by a thick leather strap.

Facing him was a large pane of one-way glass, allowing him to see into two small, brightly lit rooms; plain white walls and flooring; both containing nothing but one occupant.

In the left room Natasha paced back and forth, clearly searching for a way out, a weak point. Blood ran down Natasha's face from a gash on her forehead and she held her left arm close to her stomach; it was clearly broken.  
In the room on the right Steve sat slumped in the corner, he seemed to have an injured ankle, explaining why he was sat on the floor, he looked exhausted.  
Both had been stripped of all their weapons, and neither of them could see each other, nor Tony and the dank room he was sat in

If only Tony could recall what had happened before he woke up and how they'd ended up here, but his memory was clouded. There was obviously some sort of fight, and he imagined whoever had them here had used a gas of some sort to knock them out; there was no other way Tony could think of that they'd be able capture Black Widow, Captain America and Iron Man in one go.

Tony began to wonder where the other three members of the team were when his thoughts were interrupted by someone appearing behind him.

"Welcome Mr. Stark", his voice was dripping with smugness, tainted with a faint German accent.

"Thanks for having me" Tony replied, allowing his voice to show sarcasm instead of the anxiety he was feeling.

"Let's get right to business; you are free to go..."

"Okay, well great..."

"Once you have decided"

Tony had a sinking feeling he knew where this conversation was heading, he tried to shake his head, but the leather strap held him in place.  
"I won't" he answered through gritted teeth.

"You see the pipe in the roof of each cell Mr. Stark?" the man asked, gesturing to the small tube of metal protruding through the ceiling of each room. Tony didn't answer.

"Well, at the moment they are providing your friends with oxygen. In a few minutes the oxygen will be turned off, and be replaced with carbon monoxide; causing your teammates to painfully suffocate to death. You can choose Mr. Stark, to keep the oxygen on in one of the cells, but only one. If you do not decide; both will die."

Tony looked at him for the first time properly since his arrival. He was an elderly man, but by no means frail. He definitely looked ex-military; standing proud and tall. He wore an expensive suit and held a fob watch in one hand, his glasses sat just below the bridge of his nose. His eyes were cold and his smile unkind.

"You're crazy" Tony muttered

"Yes, I do not deny it. But your time is running out; I need your decision now Mr. Stark; who will live and who will die? The girl you never thought you could trust; who has become one of your closest friends, or your Captain; the man you'd follow to the end of the earth? I picked well, no?"

"That's why you picked them? Instead of the others, because I care about them?"

"Well it would not be as much fun if I made it easy would it?"

Tony weighed up his options; he was bound too tightly to even attempt to escape. He had to make a choice, praying and hoping the other three were on their way , and weren't currently in a similar predicament.

"So Mr. Stark; who do you wish to save?"

"Natasha" Tony whispered. "Save Natasha"


	2. Chapter 2

"Interesting... It seems I was wrong; you chose the pretty face over your intrepid leader."

Tony watched as he positioned himself; blocking Tony's view of his friends. He was leering longingly at Natasha; Tony would have punched him just for that if he'd been able.

"Well, it is a very pretty face... Or perhaps you think he will better withstand the effects of the gas? Too bad..."

Tony's eyes looked away from the deranged old man and back to his teammates as a low hiss of gas could be heard forcing its way through the pipes and into one of the cells.  
But it was not Steve who seemed unsettled by the noise; in fact he didn't react at all. Natasha however did.

"You bastard!" Tony growled "You said..."

"I said you could chose, I did not say I would listen"

Tony struggled against the restraints that held him in place, realisation had dawned on Natasha; she had started to panic. He couldn't just sit here and watch her die. He fought so hard that his wrists bled, but he was no closed to freeing himself.

"You will watch her die Mr. Stark, and then you will tell your Captain why she is dead. The rest of your team will be here shortly; I suspect the archer will be less than pleased with you"

"The rest of the..."

"Yes Mr. Stark; the other three members of your team are on their way. They were temporarily incapacitated. It took them much longer to escape than I'd have thought. Perhaps they would have had time to save her, but not anymore..."

"Why? Why take three of us, just to kill one? Why not take all six? Why not kill us all?"

"You need to learn a lesson Mr. Stark! And if you do not learn it from watching your friend die perhaps I will have to be more inventive next time!"

Tony could see he was pressing the right buttons; the old man had clenched his fists in anger and raised his voice, losing his usual calm demeanor.  
Natasha crumpled to the floor behind him, Tony had hoped she'd be able to stay upright for longer; carbon monoxide is denser than oxygen so she was more at risk while she was lay on the floor, but he also knew the effects CO gas caused; dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and he'd know it wouldn't be long before they took effect.  
Steve heard her fall; he dragged himself from the floor and over to the wall separating him from Natasha. He knocked and called Tony and Natasha's names frantically, still none the wiser as to the reality of the situation.

Tony quickly resumed his questioning: "come on old man, tell me – what's the lesson I'm supposed to learn?" The old man did nothing but glare at him.  
"She's dying! Tell me why?" Tony was yelling now, pleading.

Natasha started seizing; she was rapidly running out of time. Steve seemed to be trying desperately to get through the wall, though all he was doing was hurting his shoulder.  
A tear rolled down Tony's cheek as the man smile grimly down at him.

"The lesson, Mr. Stark, is that no matter how hard you try, how much you want to; you cannot save everyone. The world may think of you as heroes but to me you will forever be the man who failed to save my daughter"

Tony stopped at the sudden revelation. "Your daughter..?"

"She was in New York that day, she was killed by aliens. And you people did nothing to save her!"

"I'm sorry. I truly am! But killing Natasha isn't going to bring her back, it's only going to cause more harm! The world needs her!"

"It's too late" he growled, glancing over to Natasha who was still in the midst of a seizure. And with that he turned to leave; "Say your goodbyes Mr. Stark; it's more that I was able to do"


	3. Chapter 3

Tony sobbed as Natasha stilled, she had minutes left, if that. The oxygen in her body was fast being replaced with carbon monoxide and her muscles and organs were withering and shutting down; she was suffocating and Tony was forced to watch; helpless.

Steve was still trying to get an answer, still banging and throwing himself at the wall.

"Steve, Steve can you hear me?"

"Tony? Is everything okay?" the concern was evidence in Steve's voice; he'd clearly heard the grief in Tony's.

"Steve; Natasha's down"

It was all that needed to be said; the sorrow took over Steve's features in a second.

The gas in Natasha's cell shut off. Evidently enough CO gas had been pumped into it to kill her; her chest still rose and fell, however it was shallow, and less often than normal.

The hiss of gas was heard again, and Tony saw Steve's head snap up; looking in the direction of the metal pipe in the corner.

"No! You said only one!" Tony screamed at no one, the old man had disappeared. Rage filled him again and he fought against the restraints once more. His chair toppled from the movements and his head smashed into the floor.

* * *

The next thing Tony knew he was being jostled and rearranged on the floor; no longer bound to the chair. His eyes opened to see Thor leaning over him.

"Friend Tony! You are awake!" he gleamed with a smile.

Tony tried desperately to sit up, but only managed it with help. Steve was sat to his right, freed from his cage. Exhaustion and worry clouded his features, however he was conscious and that was more than Tony had been expecting. The others must have arrived not long after Tony had knocked himself out.

He looked over to his left; Bruce and Clint were leaning over the motionless form of Natasha. Clint was breathing for her now; desperately trying to perform CPR through his tears. Once again Tony found himself crying; hoping there was still time, that the oxygen she was now provided with could overcome the carbon monoxide in her system. It was possible, but unlikely.

A bang behind Tony announced the return of the old man; no doubt hoping to find Natasha dead and Steve well on his way to joining her. His smug grin was fast replaced with a look of shock and outrage as Thor grabbed him round his neck.

Tony scrambled to his feet and rounded on him; "why?" he yelled at him.

"To teach..." he began, struggling to speak with the pressure of Thor's hand clasped round his throat.

"NO!" Tony interrupted; "You don't think we know? You don't think we realise we can't save everyone?! It's something we have to deal with every damn day of our lives! We do the best we can! So why..?"

Tony needed to know, of all the villains he's fought and defeated, he never really cared that much for the why. But this was personal; he'd made this one personal.

"Because it was fun" he laughed psychotically, raised his hand and before anyone could stop him, pulled the trigger of the gun no one had noticed, and shot himself in the head.


	4. Chapter 4

Thor released the man from his grip and watched as his body fell to the ground next to Steve.

"We need some oxygen, 100% pure oxygen. This isn't working!" Bruce announced to the others as he monitored Natasha's pulse. Clint was still forcing air into Natasha's mouth.

"He said he was pumping oxygen into the cells earlier, before he replaced it with CO gas..." Tony told Bruce, still staring at the man on the floor.

Bruce ran through the door their captor had used, the urgency with which he moved panicked Tony and he decided to follow. They ran down a long dim corridor; lights flashing as the bulbs died and flickered back to life again. The walls were concrete, like the floors and ceilings; Tony guessed they were in a basement of some sort, but definitely underground.

Bruce flew through the door at the end and quickly started examining countless gas canisters. Urgently pushing aside the ones at the front to get access to the ones behind.

Tony entered a minute later, but his eyes were drawn to the opposite wall; there were photos and news clippings taped to the wall, hand written notes scrawled on them in red marker. Tony's own photo was at the center of the rest, his face circled in red ink. Photos of the other avengers were placed around his; photos of him and Natasha at the cafe they liked, him and Steve walking through Central Park. A photo of Pepper was pinned up; a question mark scrawled over it. Bruce and Thor's photos had large red crosses through them. He'd clearly studied them, carefully decided who to take. It concerned Tony just how much thought and planning had gone into deciding which members of the team would be best used against him.

Bruce seemed to find what he was after as he grabbed a face mask from the shelf and ran back down the hall.  
It was an agonising wait for all, but Natasha's eyes eventually flickered open and her breathing steadied. Clint pulled her into his lap and kissed her cheek; slowly letting out a relieved sigh as wrapped his arms around her.  
Bruce kept his hand on her wrist; still monitoring her pulse as it became stronger and steadier. He smiled at her reassuringly and took his leave to check over Steve.  
Tony went over and sat on the floor, taking her hand in his and whispered a simple statement; "I'm sorry"  
She shook her head; told him it wasn't his fault and squeezed his hand weakly.  
He nodded but guilt still weight heavily in the pit of his stomach.


	5. Chapter 5

After leaving it a few days for them to recover; Tony insisted Natasha and Steve accompany him out for lunch.  
They wandered aimlessly around the city while it grew dark and cold. They ended up at the shawarma place on 7th Avenue again; the same one they'd visited after the battle for New York the year before.  
They ate in silence, much like they had then. But as the place emptied, Tony worked up the courage to approach the subject he'd been avoiding since they'd been held captive and almost died.

"Guys, I really am sorry"

Steve and Natasha interrupted him, reassuring Tony, once again, that it wasn't his fault, they they didn't blame him, but Tony stopped them; "There's something you don't know..."

The looked at him, Natasha's forehead furrowed with a look of concern, Steve nodded at him, a wordless invitation to continue.

"While you guys were in your cells, Metzger (SHIELD had uncovered his name when they'd upturned his office) offered me a choice; one of you could live, and the other would die..."

Tony paused, letting the words sink in. Both their faces were blank, expressionless, so he continued:

"I was hoping the others would arrive in time, I asked him to save you Natasha, I figured Steve would be able to cope with the gas for longer... But he turned my decision around, he used it against me... When me and Bruce found his office, there were pictures and research on all of us. SHIELD have analysed it and they think he chose you two to cause me the most pain, and for that, i'm sorry"

Natasha squeezed his hand, Steve smiled at him.

"Tony, we're a team. We still don't blame you" Natasha told him softly. Steve patted him on the back; "Lets get back, we can watch a movie with the others"

"How about Star Trek?" Tony suggested with a smile; he tried every time the team watched a film, but they always groaned and found something else to watch instead.

"Star Trek sounds good" Natasha answered, and Tony smiled, really truly smiled. For the first time in a long time he felt happy and carefree. He was forgiven, his team were safe, and for now; no one was trying to kill them.


End file.
